


Season 3 but Cuter and Less Sad

by Burr_Shot_First



Series: Pack Pup [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Age Play Little Stiles Stilinski, Age Regression, Alpha Derek Hale, Daddy Derek Hale, Derek Hale & Isaac Lahey - Freeform, Derek Hale Adopts Isaac Lahey, Family, Gen, Good Alpha Derek Hale, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Isaac Lahey & Stiles Stilinski - Freeform, Little!Stiles Stilinski, Non-Sexual Age Play, Pack Bonding, Pack Family, Past Child Abuse, Protective Pack, Spanking, Stiles Stilinski Has ADHD, Stiles Stilinski is Part of the Hale Pack, Team as Family, The Hale Pack - Freeform, The Pack is Awesome, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, precious stiles stilinski
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:28:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26077975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burr_Shot_First/pseuds/Burr_Shot_First
Summary: Hey, so this is set in the Pack Pup 'verse, but I goofed on a minor continuity issue. I guess that's what happens when you post things you wrote two years ago! Isaac appears in the other fic, although in this one, he is not a member of the pack yet. You can assume that the initial babysitting of Stiles was the same in this fic minus Isaac, or that this is just a Schrodinger's cat situation in which Isaac was both present and not present. Whatever floats your boat. More coming here, but fair warning that I don't have an ending written.  Here's hoping I can finally finish a fic for once!Edit: I found my old author's note!! Can't promise I'll stick to this plan 100%, but these are the blueprints. Apparently this is what I originally intended:Hey guys! I know what you’re probably thinking: what the hell am I doing starting another new series? Well the answer is I don’t know, but here we go. This is obviously au starting after season 2. In this series, Stiles is classified pretty soon after the end of season two and the alpha pack doesn’t show up immediately after Gerard is defeated. They show up a couple months later, but Boyd and Erica leave Beacon Hills (they’re not dead though). Sorry for anyone who’s going to be bummed out that I left them out, but I’ve never been a huge fan of their dynamic. Them leaving is a huge wakeup call to Derek, who pulls his head out of his ass and starts to build up his pack and become a much better Alpha. I might include Boyd and Erica later, like have them come visit or maybe even eventually become members of the pack, but for right now they’re out of the way. The main members of the pack will be Derek, Stiles, Scott, Lydia, Jackson, Isaac and Allison. Peter is still a dick, but he’s more genuinely remorseful about his actions and is reluctantly working at redemption. He’s an asshole, but not evil. I’m not going to kill off Allison and I’m not going to incorporate Kira.
Relationships: Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski, Lydia Martin & Stiles Stilinski, Lydia Martin/Jackson Whittemore, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski, Sheriff Stilinski & Stiles Stilinski
Series: Pack Pup [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875052
Comments: 19
Kudos: 152





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so this is set in the Pack Pup 'verse, but I goofed on a minor continuity issue. I guess that's what happens when you post things you wrote two years ago! Isaac appears in the other fic, although in this one, he is not a member of the pack yet. You can assume that the initial babysitting of Stiles was the same in this fic minus Isaac, or that this is just a Schrodinger's cat situation in which Isaac was both present and not present. Whatever floats your boat. More coming here, but fair warning that I don't have an ending written. Here's hoping I can finally finish a fic for once!
> 
> Edit: I found my old author's note!! Can't promise I'll stick to this plan 100%, but these are the blueprints. Apparently this is what I originally intended:
> 
> Hey guys! I know what you’re probably thinking: what the hell am I doing starting another new series? Well the answer is I don’t know, but here we go. This is obviously au starting after season 2. In this series, Stiles is classified pretty soon after the end of season two and the alpha pack doesn’t show up immediately after Gerard is defeated. They show up a couple months later, but Boyd and Erica leave Beacon Hills (they’re not dead though). Sorry for anyone who’s going to be bummed out that I left them out, but I’ve never been a huge fan of their dynamic. Them leaving is a huge wakeup call to Derek, who pulls his head out of his ass and starts to build up his pack and become a much better Alpha. I might include Boyd and Erica later, like have them come visit or maybe even eventually become members of the pack, but for right now they’re out of the way. The main members of the pack will be Derek, Stiles, Scott, Lydia, Jackson, Isaac and Allison. Peter is still a dick, but he’s more genuinely remorseful about his actions and is reluctantly working at redemption. He’s an asshole, but not evil. I’m not going to kill off Allison and I’m not going to incorporate Kira.

After everything that happened with the Argents, everyone was on edge- waiting for the other shoe to drop. With their pack just now stabilizing, they were expecting a new threat, probably a challenge from another pack. Derek was training them relentlessly to prepare for whatever might come their way- even Stiles. Some might say especially Stiles. As the only human and Little in the pack, most people would see him as an easy target. Derek was determined for him to be a _deceptively_ easy target.

It was difficult for Stiles, and Lydia to a lesser extent, because Derek couldn’t train him the way he’d been trained. Stiles didn’t have the brute strength, or the razor-sharp claws and teeth. So, Stiles got weapons. It made him almost sick to think about his Beta, his little boy, to be toting silver-tipped daggers or a gun loaded with wolfsbane bullets, but the thought of Stiles being caught alone by a werewolf without any way to defend himself made him sicker. 

Stiles had been pretty worried when Derek first sat them all down and explained that they’d likely be challenged by another pack soon, but as time went on and nothing happened, the illusion of safety began to set in. Why would he worry about a rival pack when there was so much more interesting stuff going on? He and the pack were closer than ever, though Scott was still pining after Allison. Having no school over the summer was really letting him explore his little headspace, and now he was getting to spend as much time as he wanted being little rather than three or four hours a day. 

His father had worried initially about what to do with him over the summer and had quietly suggested daycare. Stiles hadn’t felt very strongly about the option one way or another, but to his surprise, Derek had flipped when his dad brought it up. 

“I’m thinking about enrolling him in daycare for the summer, depending on the schedule he settles into,” the Sheriff had said casually to Derek when picking Stiles up one day. The occasional babysitting gig had gradually turned into Stiles going over to Derek’s loft almost every weekday afternoon. He was usually joined by at least one of the pack, and they tended to work on homework together or train before splitting ways for the night. It was great for pack bonding, and had the added bonus that between Lydia and Stiles, everyone else’s GPA had risen. 

“You what?” Derek half-shouted, cradling Stiles protectively to his chest. Stiles was feeling pretty teeny at the moment, so he just sighed contentedly at the unexpected cuddle. The Sheriff gave Derek a bewildered look and he hastily backed off. “Sorry, it’s just, he’s more than welcome to stay here, or with one of the pack if for some reason I’m not available,” he added in a strained tone. John cocked his head to the side, considering. 

“Is this one of those wolf things that I just don’t understand?” Derek scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. 

“Well, in some ways, Littles in packs are like our… pups. Everyone in the pack helps takes care of the pups. To put him in daycare… That’d be like saying we either couldn’t or wouldn’t do our job and take care of him. Like we’re bad caregivers,” Derek explained. The Sheriff had grunted and promised to think about it, privately vowing to talk to Scott. Surprisingly, he’d had the same reaction, though he was much less eloquent in his explanation. 

“What? No, Mr. Stilinski, you can’t!” He protested. “He can stay with me, or with Derek or someone when I’m working. Don’t send him to _daycare_!” Scott pronounced 'daycare' the way most people said 'prison.' 

“Why do you feel so strongly about this?” He asked curiously. Scott sighed. 

“I don’t know. It just feels, like, really wrong. Listen, you’ll send him with us when he’s little and you’re working, right?” He asked anxiously. A little startled, John gave in, and Stiles spent the summer basically bouncing from pack member to pack member, though he spent most of his time with Derek. The only person who hadn’t watched him alone at all was Jackson, but even he sometimes tag-teamed with Lydia. Stiles was thrilled with all of the individual attention, and the pack felt fulfilled in a way that was similar to the biological fulfillment caregivers got when taking care of others, so everyone was happy. 

Somehow, during all that chaos, Derek had become his Daddy, and everyone was really happy for them and things were great and Stiles was thriving. Then school started back. 

Thankfully, Derek had the forethought to realize Stiles was going to have trouble adjusting to being big seven consecutive hours a day after being able to float all he wanted during the summer, and he and the pack had worked the week before to get him on a semi-regular schedule for school. Stiles had growled in a distinctly wolf-like manner at being woken up at 7 am, but getting to play really violent video games that he couldn’t touch with a ten foot pole when he was little had placated him.

The night before school starts back, Scott decided to get a tattoo. Stiles tried to explain to him that that was a really poor idea, especially since it didn’t even mean anything, but Scott was his usual hardheaded self and insisted on it. 

Stiles didn’t bother to hide his laughter when it ended up healing over immediately after they left the shop, because Scott wasn’t very sympathetic when he fainted. Fair is fair. 

“So, how’s Allison?” Stiles asked casually as they headed back to Scott’s in the Jeep. 

“Stiles, you know we agreed to give each other the summer. No texting, no calling. I don’t even know if she’ll be back at school,” Scott lamented. Stiles snickered, and Scott looked at him suspiciously. 

“What?” Stiles fought valiantly to keep a straight face, but quickly burst into laughter again.

“Okay, don’t be mad,” he began, “but one day when everyone else was busy, Lydia and Allison babysat me. And she’s totally not over you, bro.” Scott’s face exhibited a weird cross between elation and betrayal. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He whined. Stiles’s face got serious. 

“I was invited out for Ladies’ Day, man. What happens on Ladies’ Day stays among the ladies.” Scott gave him a weird look. “I’m an honorary lady,” Stiles explained solemnly. “I’m only allowed to tell now ‘cause the statute of limitations for a low-level secret has passed.” Scott sighed. 

“I wish I could see her,” he said wistfully. Stiles started snickering again. 

“I think your wish has been granted, man.” Somehow, out of all the lights in town, Stiles and Scott had managed to pull up right beside Lydia and Allison at a red light. 

“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god, Stiles!” Scott shrieked, practically hyperventilating. Stiles did a poor job of hiding his laughter. 

“Nah, dude, it’s cool. Roll down your window!” He snickered. 

“Stiles, just drive!” Scott said desperately. Stiles gave him an affronted look. 

“Dude, you know my dad said he’d ground me if he had to get me out of another ticket,” he whined. “Hey, roll down your window. Don’t be rude. They’re our friends!” Scott frowned grumpily. Undeterred, Stiles threw the Jeep in park, lunged over Scott’s lap, and grabbed for the window crank. 

“Dude, quit it!” Scott complained, trying to shove him off, but Stiles was wily and determined and he managed to both fend Scott off and roll down the window. (Privately, he vowed to tell Derek later. He was usually rewarded for using his pack training). Seconds later, Lydia rolled down hers, looking like she’d been laughing every bit as much as Stiles. 

“Hey Lydia! Hey Allison!” Stiles called, grinning. Scott slumped down in his seat. 

“Oh my god,” he whispered. 

“Hey guys!” Lydia called, smirking. Stiles elbowed Scott in the ribs, and he reluctantly raised his head and gave a small wave. 

“You know,” Stiles said conversationally, “school starts tomorrow.” His eyes were dancing with mirth. Lydia picked up on his meaning immediately. 

“That means that the summer’s basically over,” she said in an equally casual tone. 

“I guess you guys wouldn’t wanna go get ice cream with us, would you?” Stiles asked craftily. Lydia grinned, and Stiles found himself feeling sort of glad that he wasn’t on the victim-end of this scheme. He was surprised, though, when Allison answered him instead of Lydia. Similarly to Scott, she’d been slouching down in her seat and avoiding eye contact with them. 

“I guess I could use some Rocky Road,” Allison said, a little hesitantly. Scott whipped his head up to look at her. Stiles couldn’t see his face, but he knew Scott was wearing a hopelessly sappy expression. 

“Dairy Queen?” Scott suggested. 

“The light’s green!” Allison yelled, blushing.

“Meet you there!” Stiles yelled back, and suddenly they were all laughing and it felt really good.

He and Scott ended up behind Lydia because she was a speed demon and Stiles really didn’t want his dad to take his keys for a week. 

“Dude, that was awesome. You were right!” Scott said excitedly. Stiles shot him a smug grin. 

“You’re welcome, dude. Just remember me when you and Allison are sucking face again, all right?” Scott rubbed his neck uncomfortably. 

“Listen, I know I wasn’t exactly a great friend when we were dating last time,” he started. Stiles tried to wave him off, but Scott persisted. “No, seriously. It’ll be different this time,” he promised. Stiles gave him a sympathetic grimace. 

“It’s cool. I mean, you were kind of turning into a werewolf,” he said lightly. “It’s almost-”

“Stiles, brake!” Scott barked suddenly, and Stiles slammed on the brakes without question. Less than a second later, Lydia did the same in front of them, and a deer ran right down the road and crashed into her window. 

“Holy shit,” Stiles whispered, fumbling out of his seat belt. Belatedly, he remembered to put the car in park before running over to check on the girls. Scott was five steps ahead of him, already having opened Allison’s door and was currently assessing her condition. 

“Holy fucking shit!” Lydia screeched as Stiles approached. “What the hell was that?”

“Are you okay?” Stiles asked frantically. 

“We’re fine,” Allison said, letting out a deep breath. Stiles reached out tentatively to Lydia, a little nervous because Allison was around and while she was nice, she wasn’t pack. He could feel how freaked out Lydia was through the bond, so he ignored his reservations and pulled her into a hug. Her arms immediately circled around him, and in a moment, her breathing was steadier. 

“Thanks,” she said quietly. Allison was staring at them, but not like she was disgusted or confused. She just looked sort of intrigued. 

“Are you supposed to call, like 911 for this? Who gets rid of dead animals?” Allison asked curiously. 

“I should call Deaton. He’ll want to look at the body, see if there’s anything weird about it,” Scott replied, sighing. Stiles nodded.

“I’ll call Da-erek,” he stumbled. Lydia gave him a look like she knew exactly how much he was slipping, and surprisingly, Scott picked up on it too. 

“You good?” He asked quietly. Stiles nodded tiredly. 

“I’ll be fine until he gets here,” he muttered, because it was inevitable that Derek was going to freak out and show up immediately when he found out a member of the pack was in an accident. Sighing, he pulled out his phone and dialed. Derek answered on the first ring, naturally. 

“Derek?”

“Hey, Stiles. What’s up?” 

“We were following Lydia and Allison to Dairy Queen and then a deer jumped out in front of their car. Everyone’s fine, but it smashed up their windshield,” he explained succinctly. Derek swore. 

“I’m on my way, buddy. You’re sure no one’s hurt? You’re okay?” 

“Yeah, we’re good. Deaton’s gonna get the deer to check it for anything weird I guess,” Stiles said distractedly, gnawing on his fingertip. 

“Okay, baby. Send me your coordinates and I’ll be there soon. I love you,” Derek said warmly. 

“Love you too, Daddy!” He hung up the phone and fiddled with it, sending his location to Derek and then, after thinking about it for a moment, to his father as well. Thankfully Lydia had taken the initiative to call the sheriff so he could come and arrange for someone to pick up the car. 

“Yeah, he’s sort of slipping, but we’re good. See you soon, Papa John!” She said cheerily. Allison snorts.

“Papa John?”

“That one’s on Stiles,” Scott explained. “He calls his dad ‘papa’ when he’s little, and his first name is John. So one time we were all over there, and he said ‘Papa’ at the same time Derek said ‘John.’ And then Isaac started cackling and the nickname’s sort of stuck.” Allison smiled.

“Thats sounds nice,” she said. Stiles thought he could almost detect a note of wistfulness in her voice. 

“Scott’s mom is Mama Mel. We call them the ‘pack parents’,” he explained proudly. “Hey, um, Allison, don’t you think you should call your dad?” Allison frowned. 

“Um… Didn’t you say Derek was coming?”

“Oh, yeah,” he mumbled. Because maybe Allison didn’t have a problem with the pack, and maybe they’d mostly forgiven her for temporarily going crazy under Gerard’s tutelage, but there were still Major Issues™ between the Hales and the Argents. What with Chris’s sister burning Derek’s house down, and then Derek’s uncle killing Kate and trying to kill Allison… It was a wonder they all semi-peacefully co-existed in the same town. 

“Won’t he be mad?” Scott asked carefully. She shrugged a little. 

“Probably. But do you wanna see Derek and Dad interacting any time soon?” Scott shook his head firmly. Stiles shuddered a little. 

“That’ll be the day,” Lydia scoffed. “Seriously, I would love to lock the two of them in a room together until they come up with a written peace agreement.” Stiles squirmed uncomfortably. He also thought it would be expedient to have an alliance with Chris Argent, but he didn’t like hearing an implicit criticism of Derek in front of someone who wasn't pack. 

Lydia had taken to the whole werewolf thing a lot better than most people, but sometimes Stiles got the feeling that she didn’t really respect Derek as the Alpha the way he did, or Scott did, or even Jackson did. He wasn’t sure if those instincts didn’t come naturally to her the way they did to them, or if it was a girl thing, or if it was just a Lydia thing. He worried a little because he knew some day soon she was going to say something that Derek couldn’t let go. 

Sure, maybe he’d been testing Derek a little lately, but everyone knew that under his bratting, he had a deep respect for Derek and his authority. With Lydia, Stiles wasn’t sure the same underlying respect was there. If it came down to it, if Derek gave an order she disagreed with, Stiles wasn’t sure she’d obey. 

“Who do you think gets here first, the Sheriff, or Derek?” Lydia asked, a trace of a smile curling her lips. 

“Oh, Derek, definitely. I’ve seen him go 70 down Beacon Street,” Scott snorted. 

“Yeah, but my dad’ll just turn his sirens on,” Stiles countered. 

“The station’s closer,” Lydia pointed out. 

Six minutes later, Scott and Lydia cocked their heads to the side slightly. 

“We were right,” Lydia cackled. 

“You hear the siren?” Stiles asked amusedly. They nodded, and then he could hear it too because his dad really was speeding. Despite the situation, he couldn’t help grinning when his dad pulled up behind his jeep, practically jumping out of the car. 

“You kids okay?” He asked urgently. 

“We’re fine, Dad,” Stiles reassured him. 

“All good here, Papa John. I mean, my car is practically totaled, but, you know,” Lydia said nonchalantly. “We have pretty good insurance.” 

“Poor deer,” Stiles said, a little sadly. John patted his shoulder a little. 

“You good?” He asked in an undertone. 

“I think I’m gonna go home with Derek tonight,” he said quietly. He knew his dad was working the late shift, and he kind of wanted the comfort of his Alpha. Or his Daddy. Some days, he couldn’t tell the difference. 

Derek was less than five minutes behind the sheriff, and he had to be able to tell by smell or something that Stiles was feeling little because he immediately scooped Stiles up and planted a kiss on the side of his head.

“Hi, pup,” he said softly. 

“Hey,” Stiles said shyly. Derek buried his face in Stiles’s shoulder for a minute, breathing in his scent and presumably reassuring himself that he was okay. 

“You guys okay?” Derek asked. Stiles was proud of him because he didn’t even frown (much) in Allison’s direction. 

“We’re fine,” Lydia answered for them, accepting Derek’s one-armed hug. Scott did the same, though he flushed a little at Allison’s stare. 

Derek walked around the front of the car to look at the deer and frowned. 

“Deer must have been crazy,” Stiles’s dad said absent-mindedly, studying the windshield. Derek shook his head.

“It was scared,” Scott called over to them. 

“What, can you smell that?” The sheriff asked, laughing a little. 

“They can,” Stiles informed him. “People and animals release pheromones when they get scared!” Derek shrugged nonchalantly. 

“It’s more useful than you’d think.” The Sheriff sighed. 

“Right. Sorry, Lydia, but your car’s gonna have to be towed,” he said apologetically. She shrugged. 

“Like I said, good insurance,” she said wryly. 

“Listen, I’ll get things cleaned up here. Derek, you wanna take him home with you?” John asked in an undertone. Derek nodded. Stiles blushed a little, but he was feeling tinier by the second and really it was for the best that he didn’t get behind the wheel of a car just then. 

“Scott, you wanna take his Jeep and drive Allison home?” Derek suggested. Vaguely, Stiles was a little relieved about that because Chris Argent would probably blow his top if Derek took her home. Scott blushed, but nodded. “We’ll take Lydia. You still coming for breakfast?” 

“Yeah, sure. I’ll bring the Jeep by in the morning and he can drive us both to school. That okay with you, buddy?” Scott asked Stiles. Stiles grinned. Even when he was little, they all did a pretty good job of treating him like his opinion was important. 

“Just don’t hit a deer,” he said mischievously. Derek snorted, giving him a playful swat on the behind. 

“Okay, cheeky. Let’s get you home. First day tomorrow,” he announced. 

“Shotgun,” Lydia said primly. 

“Hey, no fair!” Stiles complained. Derek rolled his eyes and deposited Stiles into the backseat. 

“You can literally move to the front after you drop me off,” Lydia said without sympathy. 

“Come on!” He complained.

“No whining! You have to respect the rules of shotgun,” Scott chided playfully. 

“I want three stories tonight,” Stiles muttered petulantly.

“You always get three stories,” Derek said patiently, sliding into the front seat. Stiles was still feeling kind of grumpy when he felt someone pressing Blue into his arms and a pacifier into his mouth. The grump faded right out of him, and he smiled gratefully up at Derek. He couldn’t really enunciate well behind the pacifier, so he signed thank you Daddy. 

It was Lydia’s idea, naturally. They’d all learned a handful of signs so that when Stiles was feeling too little to talk or he had a bottle or a pacifier in his mouth, he could still communicate with them. It’d come in handy in other situations, too, and so the entire pack had been steadily working on it over the summer. They could have very, very stilted conversation mostly centered around toddler requests like toy, juice, bottle, pacifier, and hug. 

“Aw, look at him being all tiny and sweet,” Lydia cooed at him from the front seat.

“He’s been bigger for a few weeks. I was beginning to get a little worried,” Daddy confided quietly. If Stiles was a little bigger and he heard them talking about him like he wasn’t there, he might be offended, but right then he just felt tiny and safe. He murmured a quiet ‘bye bye’ to Lydia when they dropped her off and then forgot to ask about moving to the front seat. Derek glanced at him in the rear view mirror and laughed a little.

“We’ll be home soon baby, and we’ll do a quick dinner and then beddy-bye, okay?” Stiles nodded a little, his head slumping to lean against the window. He wasn’t sleeping, just resting his eyes for a minute. When they arrived at the loft, Daddy carried him inside.

“You feel up to sitting by yourself, or should I grab the high chair?” Daddy asked. Stiles just blinked slowly up at him. “Yeah, high chair it is then,” he said decisively. He grabbed it from the corner and set it down by the table, planting Stiles in the seat. He then walked over to the stove and dished some macaroni and cheese from a pot on the stove into Stiles’s super cool Batman plate. 

“Fairies!” Stiles garbled excitedly behind his pacifier. Derek’s eyebrows creased together in confusion. 

“What’s that, baby?” Stiles threw a hand out wildly towards the stove. 

“Fairies!” It took Derek a moment to figure out what he meant, but when he did, he laughed loudly. 

“No, baby, fairies didn’t make your mac ’n’ cheese. That was Peter,” he explained through his laughter. “I called him while we were in the car and asked him to make dinner for you.” Stiles’s face fell. That was a much less interesting explanation. Also, he didn’t remember Derek making a phone call, which didn’t make sense because he definitely hadn’t been sleeping. 

“Don’t you listen to your silly Daddy; I most definitely had help from the fairies,” Uncle Peter said confidingly to Stiles as he walked into the kitchen. He ruffled Stiles’s hair and gave him a quick one-armed hug. 

“Lots’a fairies?” Stiles asked, eyes wide. Peter nodded solemnly. 

“They were so sad to have missed you, but they wanted to make up for it by helping with your dinner,” he explained. Stiles nodded. He was sad about missing the fairies, but at least he got fairy man ’n’ cheese. “You ready for school tomorrow?” Stiles pouted. 

“Noooooo,” he moaned dramatically. Derek took advantage of his open mouth to sneak in a bit of macaroni. Stiles almost spat it back out on principle (sneak attacks are rude, Daddy) but then he remembered it was special fairy Mac ’n’ cheese. It’d be a shame to waste any. 

“His backpack is all ready, and Scott’s going to bring his car over in the morning. I just need to make their lunches tonight,” Derek explained. Peter snorted. 

“You’re making their lunches? Are you their Alpha or their den mom?” Derek rolled his eyes. 

“Shut up. You know as well as anyone that Alphas feel responsible for their Betas,” he said defensively. Stiles giggled, because when he was this little ‘shut up’ was a very naughty thing to say. “Are you laughing at Daddy, pup?” Stiles grinned, and got fed another bite (but this time without the subterfuge).

“Silly child,” Peter said fondly. 

“The pack is coming for breakfast,” Derek said a little awkwardly. Stiles winced. While he was almost-sort-of-becoming-okay with Peter (at least while little), the rest of the pack wasn’t really there yet. At all. Right now, they pretended Peter didn’t live here and Peter cleared out any time they come over. It wasn’t really a good system at all, and Stiles had subtly mentioned having a real Pack Discussion™ about it, but Derek didn’t think they were ready for that yet. He was probably right. 

“I’ll go out for breakfast, then. I’ve been meaning to try the blueberry pancakes at Stella’s,” Peter said lightly. Stiles was sure it was getting to be draining, leaving the house every single time the pack came over (which was pretty often), but Peter hadn’t complained, at least not in his earshot. Stiles understood that everyone was mad at Peter for turning them against their will and/or generally being a murderous son of a bitch, but he also understood that Peter had been mentally unstable at the time after years of being in a coma following the deaths of his entire family. People were complicated. Derek used to threaten him and slam him into hard surfaces. Now Derek bottle-fed and generally pampered him. People could change.

“You look like you’re having serious thoughts there, little boy,” Derek said softly. Stiles shrugged. Derek must have sensed not to push it, because he just asked, “Do you want more?” Stiles glanced down and noticed that the bowl is empty. He shook his head tiredly. 

“I’ll stick a bottle in the warmer and bring it up when it’s ready,” Peter offered. Derek shot him a grateful look and carried Stiles upstairs, hoping that the baby in his arms couldn’t sense what he did: trouble was coming.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Betas get ready for their first day back to school. No, seriously, that's basically all that happens. Oh, and Derek and Stiles have a brief but meaningful power struggle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N: Just a heads up, there is mention of spanking in this chapter, and a single swat. There will be spanking that is slightly more severe in this story (but not generally severe), but this theme is not going to feature prominently. There is also non-graphic mention and discussion of child abuse (concerning Isaac's father). I'll always make a note beforehand concerning either of these topics, so if that sort of things bothers you, you can skip those chapters. If you want a more detailed summary of this chapter to decide if it's something you can read or not, look below:
> 
> Specifically, in this chapter, Derek swats Stiles once in response to his defiance (they have negotiated this dynamic beforehand, which is mentioned). Afterwards, he gives Stiles a hug (and checks in on him a few minutes later to make sure they are okay). Isaac witnesses this interaction and is nervous, specifically because of his history of abuse. He and Derek talk about discipline and consequences, and Isaac's history of abuse. Derek and Isaac decide together that Derek will never spank Isaac, and they discuss alternate, appropriate punishments for Isaac if they are needed in the future.)

Scott was the only one that joined them for breakfast the next day. Lydia was picking up Allison, and Derek might have tolerated her presence the night before, but he wasn’t about to invite her into his home. Jackson, of course, didn’t want to come over if Lydia wasn’t there, and Peter had cleared out, so it was just Stiles, Derek, Isaac, and Scott. 

Thankfully, Stiles had woken up big, alleviating Derek’s worries that he’d need to be coaxed out of his headspace. Derek had never needed to do that before, and the idea of discouraging Stiles from being little just didn’t sit right with him. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean that Stiles wasn’t going to be difficult. Derek woke to find Stiles at the kitchen table, clacking away on his laptop. 

“You know how many vehicle collisions last year involved deer? 247,000,” Stiles greeted him. 

“Good morning to you, too,” Derek said drily. Stiles barely glanced at him, entirely absorbed in his reading. Derek sighed. “Stiles, go get ready for school.” Stiles looked up at him this time, but only briefly. 

“I can’t go to school today! I have to figure out what happened last night!” Stiles said excitedly. Derek nodded. 

“Sure. You can start on that, just as soon as school lets out this afternoon,” he said casually, but Stiles didn’t miss the underlying order. 

“Derek, come on, that was really freaky! Don’t you want us to find out what happened? It could be something dangerous!” Stiles pointed out. Derek pursed his lips, trying to decide whether he should explain a little of what he knew about the threat to Stiles now, or if that would make him even more obstinate about going to school today. 

“Would it make you feel better if I told you I’d look into it today?” Derek finally asked. Stiles beamed. 

“Yeah! We can do it together!” Derek snorted. 

“Cute. Now go upstairs and take a shower.” 

“Can’t.” Derek paused. He wasn’t really used to being disobeyed, not even by Stiles.

“If you go to school without a fuss, I’ll make brownies for everyone this afternoon,” He tried. Isaac walked downstairs at that moment, mumbling a sleepy good morning to both of them, utterly oblivious to the scene he’d just walked into. Stiles smirked. 

“You were gonna make back to school brownies anyway,” he said smugly. Derek closed his eyes and counted to ten, trying not to lose his patience. 

“Fine, how’s this? Either go get ready right now, or I’m going to spank you.” Stiles gasped a little, and Isaac’s eyes widened, the sleepiness startled right out of him.

“But… I’m big?” Stiles said quietly. Derek had never spanked him before while he was big, never even threatened it. “Do you get to stop obeying me when you’re big?” Derek asked sternly. 

“Nooo,” Stiles said, drawing the word out into a whine. 

“That’s right. So listen to your Alpha, and go get ready for school, right now.” Stiles sat frozen in his seat, clearly a little stunned. They’d talked about this, and they’d agreed that if Derek ever needed to give Stiles a spanking when he was big, he was allowed- after all, Derek disciplined the rest of the pack, though he couldn’t exactly bite Stiles’s neck until he bared his throat like he did when he was challenged by one of the wolves. Stiles had been towing the line between playfully snarky and openly disrespectful (while big) for weeks now, and Derek had quietly been preparing himself for the moment when he’d need to respond. Each member had tested him a little, but he’d only had to force submission on Jackson and Scott. Stiles, though, had been a lot more subtle about his acting out. Until today. 

He should have nipped this in the bud the day it started, but he’d been afraid of being overly stringent. He also didn’t want Stiles to think Derek was being stricter with him than with the rest of the pack because he was his little boy, or because he was human. Yes, he should have done something about this weeks ago, and now he was paying for it. Derek couldn’t even blame Stiles; it was natural for all Betas to test the authority of their new Alphas. Derek was just sorry that things were coming to a head today. He really didn’t want to give Stiles his first real spanking on the first day of school. He couldn’t let that reluctance keep him from giving Stiles what he needed, though.

“One,” Derek said quietly. Stiles’s mouth made a little o of surprise. “Two. Thr-” Before Derek could finish the word, Stiles sprang up from the table and dashed for the stairs. Derek snagged his arm on his way for the door, stopping him short. “Behave,” Derek growled, punctuating the command with a hard swat to Stiles’s behind. Stiles let out a surprised little cry, jerking around to stare at him in surprise. Whatever he saw in Derek’s stern face must have settled him, because suddenly he was lowering his eyes and baring his throat. 

“Yes, Alpha,” he whispered, almost tearfully. At the first sign of submission, Derek let out a sigh of relief, pulling Stiles close into a quick hug. 

“Good boy,” he praised, releasing Stiles go with a kiss on the top of his head. Stiles gave him a tentative little smile, and Derek could practically smell the tension leaving him. Challenging one’s Alpha was usually hell on a werewolf’s instincts, and Derek was starting to wonder if Stiles was feeling those instincts as keenly as the other Betas. Stiles’s little headspace and their relationship as Daddy and little boy probably influenced Stiles’s internal strife over disobeying Derek, but he thought there was more to it than that. Hopefully, he’d satisfied Stiles’s need to test him and they could all move on with their lives. Derek glanced at Isaac, who he’d almost forgotten was in the room. He knew they would need to talk about this. 

“Eggs?” Derek offered casually, turning on the stove. Isaac nodded, a strained look on his face. Derek decided to wait until Isaac was ready to start the conversation, to give him a moment to compose himself. Isaac had seen him spank Stiles when he was little, but Derek never gave him more than a few swats while little. They both knew that if Derek had spanked him this morning, as an adult, it would have been more than that. He didn’t have to wait long. 

“You said you’d spank him.” Derek only heard Isaac’s comment because of his werewolf hearing. 

“Yes,” Derek said carefully, “if I thought he needed it. He was challenging me this morning. It’s my job as Alpha to protect and look out for you, and your job as Betas to obey and respect me,” he reminded him.

“What if we disagree?” Isaac asked hesitantly. Derek went to the fridge and grabbed the carton of eggs, cracking them in the pan. 

“Well, then you let me know- respectfully. Unless there’s an emergency, we can always talk about any decision I make that you disagree with. But ultimately, my word is final.” Derek thought he’d explained most of this to the pack, but maybe he hadn’t been as detailed as he should have been. 

“Would you spank me?” Isaac whispered in a small voice. Derek eyed him carefully. He’d never know the full extent of the abuse Isaac’s father had subjected him to, but he knew Isaac still had nightmares about it. He didn’t know if Isaac’s father had ever spanked him, but if he had, he definitely didn’t want to trigger any painful memories. 

“I don’t know,” Derek admitted. “I spank Stiles because we determined together that that’s a good deterrent for misbehavior, whether he’s big or little. Do you think that’s something that would work for you?” Isaac squirmed in his seat. 

“It sounds really scary,” he admitted after a moment. “I don’t think… my dad used to hit me with his belt sometimes. It hurt a lot.”

“I would never do that,” Derek said vehemently. “And if you’re not comfortable with spanking, then we won’t do that, okay? My job is to protect you, and I don’t want you to be reminded of your father when I discipline you. If you misbehave, we can find other consequences.” Isaac’s shoulders slump a little in relief. 

“Okay,” he agrees. “You mean, like, being grounded or doing chores, right?” He checked. Logically, he knew Derek wouldn’t lock him up or kick him out of the house, but he wanted to be sure. 

“Exactly,” Derek agreed. “But just so you know, Stiles and I have agreed that I’ll never spank him with anything other than my hand. I don’t like the idea of using an implement, either,” Derek confided. Isaac looked a lot more relieved at that pronouncement, and, Derek knew he’d made the right choice in sharing as much as he did. Normally, he was a lot more private about discipline between himself and a pack member (unless they forced a confrontation in front of the others, like Jackson had), but Isaac had been afraid. Stiles would forgive him for betraying a little privacy in the interest of allaying Isaac’s fears. 

Stiles came downstairs a few minutes later, dressed in his favorite red hoodie and looking kind of shy. “C’mere, Red,” Derek ordered kindly, throwing an arm around Stiles once he got near enough. In a voice low enough to pretend that Isaac couldn’t hear, he said, “You and I are just fine, Stiles. Stop feeling guilty.” Stiles gave him a small but real smile at that, and then set about helping Derek with breakfast. He pulled out the bread and began making toast while Isaac moved to set the table, and just when the last plate of bacon dinged in the microwave, they all heard Scott pull up in the Jeep. 

“Good morning!” Scott chirped excitedly as he swung the door open without knocking. 

“Just in time,” Derek remarked easily, clapping him on the shoulder. “Coffee, juice, or milk?” 

“Got any apple juice?” Scott asked. 

“You know we never have less than 5 jugs of apple juice in this house,” Stiles snorted. Derek was pleased to see he seemed (and smelled) relatively normal. 

“That’s because you go through a jug a day when you’re little,” Derek teased while Scott settled at the table between Scott and Isaac. “And half a jug when you’re not!” Stiles rolled his eyes good-naturedly. 

“Please. Like we don’t all know that Peter is the real apple juice addict!” Scott and Isaac burst out into nervous-sounding laughter. Peter was still kind of a taboo subject, though Derek and Isaac were living with him and Stiles saw him frequently. Derek just shook his head in amusement while bringing the bacon and Scott’s juice to the table. 

“Dig in, guys. You need to leave here in twenty,” he reminded them. Stiles wasn’t little, but Derek thought he might need a little bit more reassurance so he fixed his plate for him. From the wide grin he received when he placed the fourth piece of bacon in front of Stiles, it felt like the right call. 

“Scott, you’re in way too good a mood for someone who’s starting their sophomore year of high school today,” Stiles said suspiciously. Scott shrugged happily. 

“What can I say? New year, new me. This is the year of self-improvement. I’m gonna get better grades, be a better son, be a better friend-” he dropped his voice, a little embarrassed. “B-be a better Beta, and win Allison back!” Derek was on the verge of giving him a very dopey smile until he heard Scott’s last resolution. Affection and annoyance warred within him, and he finally settled on a mix of the two. 

“I’m really happy that you’re taking time to work on yourself,” he said sincerely. “But didn’t Allison’s dad threaten to kill you? Didn’t Allison swear off werewolves and shoot at Erica and Boyd?”

“Yes,” Scott admitted, “but she was in a really bad place. Her mom had just died, Derek. And she’s really, really sorry.” Derek squinted at him. 

“How do you know that? I thought you hadn’t talked all summer.”

“She and Lydia have been hanging out a lot. Lydia told me some stuff,” Scott explained. “I know you don’t like the Argents, and with good reason, but Allison is different,” he said earnestly. Derek sighed. 

“I don’t want to lose any other pack members to the Argent’s hatred of werewolves.”

“I’ll be so careful, Derek,” Scott pleaded. Derek gave him a measured look. He’d hoped Scott’s crush would have dissipated over the summer, but apparently that was too much to hope for. 

“You tell me any time the two of you are planning to hang out after school. You don’t go over to her house, ever. And if I tell you that you can’t see her for some reason, you listen to me. Understand?” A slow, dopey grin made its way onto Scott’s face. 

“Yes, yes, I promise!” He vowed. Then he sprang up from the table, launching himself at Derek for a hug. Derek couldn’t help himself from replicating Scott’s grin as he returned the hug. In the back of his mind, he wondered if he and Scott might have gotten along better previously if he had been willing to compromise about Allison. 

“It’s 7:15,” Isaac interrupted. “If we need to pick up our schedules…” Derek gave Scott a playful shove off of his lap and raced to gather up their lunches. 

“Okay, I packed you guys lunches and a snack if you get hungry during the day. Can you make sure Jackson and Lydia get theirs?” He directed the query to Isaac, who he deemed the least absent-minded of the three. 

“Sure,” Isaac agreed. Then Derek handed Isaac and Stiles their backpacks. 

“Did you take your meds?” Stiles bobbed his head up and down. “Got your phone?” 

“Yes, Derek,” Stiles said tolerantly. Derek snorted. 

“All right then. I’ll see you guys after school. Have fun and be good!” First Scott, then Isaac, then Stiles accepted his hugs and their sack lunches. After Stiles hugged him, he stood on his tip-toes to whisper into Derek’s ear, 

“You’re a good Alpha.” Derek had a stupid grin on his face for a good five minutes after they’d left.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles has a tough first day back at school. When he gets home, he's feeling bratty and out of sorts. Thankfully, Derek and the rest of the pack are able to help get him settled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mild spanking in this chapter. Like, just a few swats.

The first day back was really stressful for Stiles. He’d found it harder than anticipated to stay big during the entire school day, and he’d basically been little at lunch when the pack was around to watch him. Derek had made them all personalized lunches; ham and cheese sandwiches for Jackson and Scott, plain ham for Stiles, turkey and cheese for Lydia, and turkey and ham for Isaac.

Thankfully, Stiles didn’t have any homework, and the pack had agreed to convene at the loft after school to hang out and compare notes about the first day. When they arrived, Stiles bypassed Derek to lunge for the pan of brownies he knew would be on the stove, cramming one in his mouth immediately before quickly reaching for a second.

“At least drink some milk,” Derek said, rolling his eyes and pouring Stiles a glass. Stiles rolled his eyes back and ignored the milk as Derek started to scent him. At first Stiles had been really weirded out by the concept of scent-marking, but he’d learned it was werewolves’ way of reassuring each other of the pack bond. He couldn’t smell them the way they smelled him, but the loving touches and sniffing of his back, torso, and hair had become sort of comforting. Sometimes he found himself replicating the behavior on the others, though if it was part of the pack bond or just something he’d picked up from them, he wasn’t sure. 

“There,” Derek pronounced, satisfied. “You don’t stink like a boy’s locker room now.” If he noticed that Stiles hadn’t touched his milk, he didn’t say anything. Stiles squirmed away and watched with amusement as Derek replicated the process on first Isaac, then Lydia, then Scott (who permitted it but was still clearly uncomfortable). Jackson was only half the jackass he used to be, but he’d made it clear he wasn’t going to let anyone scent him (except Lydia, but they generally kept that private). 

“Hey, Derek? Is Peter here?” Scott asked hesitantly. Derek froze, and everyone stopped what they were doing to look at them. He’d been in contact with Peter to deal with the potential threat of a rival pack since Gerard’s defeat, but the rest of the pack had managed to avoid him for most of the summer. 

“No, you know I always send him away before you guys come over. What’s up?” Scott sighed.

“Well, there’s two new werewolves at our school.” Stiles eyes widened. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked a little petulantly. Scott rolled his eyes. 

“Well, they would have heard me, for starters.” 

“You could have written it down,” Stiles pointed out. 

“What, and have you freak out and tip them off?” 

“You’d freak out and tip them off,” Stiles muttered irritably. 

“Cut it out,” Derek ordered brusquely. Stiles glared at his feet but dropped the subject. “Let’s focus on what’s important. Scott, who are these werewolves?” Stiles fiddled with his shirt sleeve, buttoning and unbuttoning the cuff while listening intently for Scott’s answer. 

“The twins. I don’t know their names. Did any of you guys see them around?” There were nods all around. 

“Ethan and Aiden,” Lydia supplied. 

“I guess I wasn’t around them long enough to smell the wolf in them,” Isaac interjected quietly. Derek sighed. 

“Some wolves can hide their scent. Maybe their concentration slipped around Scott.” Stiles’s shirt cuff made its way into his mouth, and he chewed it idly.

“We’ll figure it out. For now, I want you guys to try and befriend them if you can, but don’t ever be alone with them. Clear?” Everyone nodded their agreement, and then Derek gave them all a rare, real smile- not a smirk or a grin. “Good. Now, why don’t you guys tell me about your day?”

They settled down in the living room with the rest of the brownies, everyone needing a little bonding time. The threat of the wolves in town that probably belonged to a rival pack had them all deeply unsettled. Lydia and Jackson curled up in the armchair while Stiles, Derek, Scott, and Isaac settled on the couch. Stiles gave a little sigh when he saw there wasn’t quite room for all four of them. 

“Where am I supposed to sit?” Derek rolled his eyes and reached out to snag Stiles’s waist, pulling him down into his lap. Stiles huffed as if that wasn’t where he sat every time they gathered in the living room like this. 

Then he snagged the remote from the table, turning the volume up to an obnoxious level. 

“Stiles. Turn the tv down, please,” Derek ordered quietly. “We’re talking.” Stiles grumbled, clutching it to his chest. The rest of the pack pretended not to notice the quiet power struggle happening on the middle of the couch. “You’ve got to the count of three, and then a certain little boy is going to find himself on the time-out mat,” Derek warned. Stiles was in between headspaces- little enough not to tell Derek to stop, but big enough that he wasn’t really cowed by the threat. “One. Two. Thr-” Stiles quickly found the volume button and turned the tv down. He was in an odd mood, but he really didn’t want a time-out right now. He didn’t think he could handle that without crying, and he didn’t want to cry in front of the whole pack and-

“Let’s go talk for a minute,” Derek said decisively, picking Stiles up swiftly and heading for the stairs. Stiles heard him mumble something that he couldn’t make out, thanks to being the only non-werewolf in the room. Probably reassuring the others. It was then that Stiles noticed he was shaking. They went to the nursery, and Derek immediately headed for the rocking chair. 

“You’ve been trying to get my attention since you got home, haven’t you?” Derek asked thoughtfully. Stiles shrugged. “You ignored me when I told you to drink your milk, then you argued with Scott, and then the tv. You wanted me to do something, right?” Stiles shrugged again, feeling embarrassed and flustered. He didn’t know how to say that he’d been feeling out of sorts and he was scared of these new werewolves and going back to school and being without Derek all day had been hard. And now he just wanted to be tiny and let Derek take care of him but he couldn’t seem to get into the right mindset. In the back of his mind, maybe he wanted to get into trouble because he always felt extra small after being scolded. “I think maybe you had a hard first day back, and then the news about those wolves at your school stressed you out. And now you’re in between headspaces. Am I right?” Stiles whipped his head around to stare at Derek in surprise. 

“You got all that from sniffing me?” He demanded. Derek chuckled. 

“A little bit. Scott texted me and said he thought you were having a hard time staying big today. Then you were noticeably upset by Scott’s news about the twins. And you’ve been doing little things to try and irritate me, but you clearly weren’t little.” Stiles sighed. Derek was like a dog with a bone, though he was wise enough not to voice the comparison aloud. 

“I thought maybe if you smacked me like this morning, then I’d feel little,” Stiles admitted. Derek nodded, suddenly understanding. 

“You were being a brat so that I’d spank you because you thought that would make you age down?” Stiles nodded, face flush with embarrassment. “Because it helped settle you this morning when I swatted you, didn’t it?” 

“That’s what I thought, but then you were gonna put me in time-out and I don’t think I could do a time-out right now,” he admitted. “My head’s kind of buzzing and I feel anxious.”

“Thank you for telling me that, baby,” Derek said soothingly. There was a pause. “But you were still being naughty earlier. When you feel out of sorts, you’re supposed to tell me so I can help you. Being naughty just makes you feel worse.” Stiles frowned unhappily because he was right. Being a brat didn’t fix anything; it just made him feel sort of guilty. Suddenly, Derek flipped him over so he was face-down over his lap, bottom in the air. 

“Derek!” He complained. “I changed my mind! This was a stupid idea!” Yes, he’d sort of asked for this, but he didn’t need to be spanked now that he’d voiced his feelings, right?

“You need to listen to me and stop giving me attitude,” Derek scolded. He gave Stiles three hard smacks on his bottom, the last one landing right across his sit-spots. 

“Ow, Daddy!” Stiles complained, a tear welling in his eye as Derek pulled him to sit right-side up again on his knee. 

“Are you going to listen to Daddy now?” Derek asked sternly. Stiles nodded quickly, feeling impossibly tiny. Derek regarded him sternly for a moment, then softened. “Good boy. Daddy loves you, you know that?” Stiles nodded, burying his face in Derek’s neck. 

“Love Daddy too,” he whispered. Daddy stayed hugging him for a long moment before standing up. Stiles let out a small whine of complaint at the change in position. 

“Sh, I’m just getting a diaper on you, baby boy. Then we’ll go downstairs and have a bottle on the couch, how’s that?” He knew his nosy pack had undoubtedly heard him chastising Stiles, and if he didn’t bring him downstairs to show them he was all right they would be barging into the nursery before too long. He handed Stiles Blue, his treasured stuffed dog, absentmindedly humming below his breath while he put Stiles in a diaper. Stiles was quiet during the change, but he seemed a lot more settled than he had five minutes previously. 

Derek eyed the three fading pink marks on Stiles’s bottom a little regretfully. Ordinarily, he never would have spanked him for an offense that minor, but Stiles wasn’t in the right frame of mind for a time-out and he’d clearly needed something from Derek in order to let go and sink down into his headspace. He’d waited a moment after flipping Stiles over his knee to give him time to safe-word, and he hadn’t. Derek thought he’d made the right decision.

After a moment’s thought, he went ahead and put Stiles in a onesie. Stiles wouldn’t ask for it, but Derek sensed he needed to be smaller than usual tonight. Stiles sucked his thumb during the change, and Derek frowned but didn’t say anything. He never made Stiles stop sucking his thumb if there wasn’t a pacifier nearby to replace it with, and there was no point in giving him a pacifier if he was about to have a bottle. 

Once he was finished, he lifted Stiles from the changing table and carried him downstairs. When they reached the living room, the pack abandoned all pretense of disinterest and stared at them openly. Stiles, bless him, didn’t notice because he had his head buried in Derek’s shoulder. 

“You spanked him for that?” Scott hissed accusingly, barely remembering to drop his voice so Stiles wouldn’t hear him. A little late, Derek realized that none of the pack except perhaps Isaac had ever been around when he spanked Stiles. In their eyes, he was probably a monster. 

“Extenuating circumstances,” Derek mouthed. Scott’s glare softened only slightly, but the residual frown told Derek that he’d be demanding an explanation later. Sighing in exasperation, Derek deposited Stiles on Scott’s lap, deciding to let him see for himself that he was fine now.

“Hey, buddy, you doing okay now?” Scott said tenderly, settling Stiles carefully down on his lap like he thought his butt was raw. Derek almost laughed when Scott laid a hand on Stiles’s arm, clearly trying to take away his ‘pain.’ 

“He’s not sore, dumbass,” Isaac snorted under his breath. “We only heard three little swats.” He spent more time alone with Derek and Stiles than anyone, and was familiar enough with their dynamic to know that everything was fine. He heard quiet laughter from the others as he put a bottle in the warmer. When he returned to the living room, Stiles still had his thumb in his mouth, grinning as the others cooed at him. Now, Lydia was holding him while Jackson played peek-a-boo with him. 

Derek watched for a minute, a smile playing around his lips as Jackson covered Stiles’s face with his baby blanket. 

“Where’s Stiles?” Jackson asked in a lilting, high-pitched tone. Stiles giggled his sweet baby laugh, and Jackson yanked off the blanket. “There he is!” Derek was impressed with how far Jackson had come, and his wolf hummed happily at the sight of his pack taking care of their pup. 

“Dada!” Stiles squealed excitedly, throwing his hands up towards the doorway. Lydia had to readjust quickly to keep him from falling off of her lap, and Jackson quickly placed a stabilizing hand on Stiles’s back. 

“Whoa, careful, buddy,” Jackson warned. Derek smiled softly, crossing the room to pick up Stiles. He pressed a kiss to his forehead and settled back on the couch between Scott and Isaac. With Derek holding his bottle, Isaac smoothing his hair, and Scott patting his legs, Stiles felt very small, very safe, and very loved.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter. I'll try to remember to post a second one sooner as an apology, but I didn't have a great way to space what I had written and a chapter had to suffer somewhere.

Unfortunately, Stiles's feeling of security didn’t last. The next day, Stiles, Scott, Lydia, Jackson, Isaac, and Allison were all sitting in English class together. Their new teacher seemed a little odd, but the group was excited to have a class together. Scott and Allison had been weird about it until Stiles and Lydia had told them both to shut the fuck up and sit next to each other. Ever since, they’d spent the period half paying attention and half passing sickly sweet little love notes back and forth. Stiles was taking notes over the assigned reading, finding it less dry than he’d expected. 

“Hey, Lydia, do you think-” he started. He was cut off by a bird flying straight towards the window, killing itself against the glass. “Holy shit,” he said out loud. A few people chuckled, but most were staring at the window in awe. Their teacher, Ms. Blake, went to investigate. Scott heard it first. 

“Get down!” He shouted, shoving Allison to the floor and covering her with his body. He whipped his head around to check on Stiles- Lydia had pushed him to the floor before Scott finished his sentence, and Jackson dove protectively over both of them. Suddenly, an entire flock of birds was flying into the windows, some breaking the glass and swooping inside. The rest of the class scrambled to follow Scott’s orders, cowering under desks. Soon, there were thirty or forty birds flying around the classroom, clawing students and picking at their hair. Stiles had been prepared for a day of being big, but not while being attacked by a ton of birds!

“Want Daddy,” he whimpered. “Want Papa!” Only the wolves could hear him over the cacophony bird squawks and human screams. 

“I know,” Lydia whispered. “We’ll call him as soon as this is over, okay?” Stiles nodded, burrowing clinging closer to her and Jackson. As quickly as the birds had swarmed, they left. After just a few minutes, the uproar died down, and everything was quiet. 

“I’ll call the police,” Scott offered, scrambling up from the floor. The classroom was covered with dark feathers. As if he’d broken a trance, the other students began to pull out their phones and start calling their parents. Their teacher still huddled by the desk, looking shell-shocked. Scott quietly directed someone else to go and get the principal. 

Jackson eased Stiles up from the floor, and in a move that shocked everybody, picked him up and placed him on his hip. 

“It’s okay, Daddy and Papa will be here soon. Everything’s okay,” he soothed. A few people gave them weird looks, but Jackson glared at them until they looked away. Isaac pulled out his phone to call Derek. 

“Hey, Stiles,” Lydia said softly after she’d explained the situation to her mom. “Who do you think gets here first, Daddy or Papa?” Stiles gave a tiny grin. 

“Daddy,” he decided. “I can feel him coming.” The wolves raised their eyebrows at this proclamation. Was this part of the pack bond?  
“I can kinda feel it too,” Isaac agreed, once he’d finished his call with a frantic Derek. Lydia frowned.  
“I can’t.” Nearby, Allison hung up with her father. 

“Scale of one to ten, how freaked out was your dad?” Scott asked her, trying to lighten the mood. Allison gave him a watery smile. 

“Eleven.” 

Derek proved Stiles right five minutes later when he came bursting into the classroom, making a beeline for the corner the pack was set up in. He took Stiles from Jackson and clutched him close to his chest. 

“Daddy,” Stiles whimpered. 

“Shh, I know, it’s okay. You’re okay now, Daddy’s got you,” Derek comforted him, rubbing his back. “Are you hurt? Are any of you hurt?” He asked, focusing on the other Betas. Allison took an uncomfortable step backwards. 

“Stiles has a few scratches, but nothing major. The rest of us healed up already,” Scott reported in an undertone. 

“Jackson protected me,” Stiles said shyly. Derek regarded his pack fondly. 

“I’m very proud of you, Jackson. Of all of you. It sounds like you did exactly the right thing.” They blushed and tried to brush off the praise, but the approval from their Alpha had their inner wolves purring- even Stiles. 

“Papa’s almost here, Stiles,” Derek murmured. Sure enough, within a minute or two Stiles heard the sirens. 

“I hear him!” He said excitedly. Derek raised his eyebrows. The other wolves had heard the sirens soon after he did, but none of the other humans seemed to have picked up on them yet. Was the pack bond giving Stiles more than werewolf instincts- was he getting werewolf senses?

Stiles seemed completely reassured now that the birds were gone and the entire pack was here. 

“First the deer, and now the birds. I think Stiles was right,” Lydia admitted in an undertone. Stiles shot Derek a smug look, and he snorted. 

“I didn’t say you were wrong, Stiles, I said you needed to go to school anyways,” Derek pointed out. 

“Um, our teacher’s giving you a weird look,” Isaac interjected. 

“Maybe she’s wondering why a 22 year old man is here to pick up a bunch of teenagers,” Derek said wryly. After a moment, Ms. Blake got her nerve up and approached Derek. 

“Excuse me. What relation exactly do you have to these children?” Derek raised an eyebrow at her tone. Stiles privately thought that if he was on the other side of that eyebrow, he’d be backtracking madly. 

“I’m Isaac’s legal guardian, and Stiles is my little,” he explained. “If you check with the front office, you’ll find that’s all on file.” She didn’t seem thrilled by that answer, but she was prevented from doing any more questioning by the sheriff entering the room. He surveyed the room briefly before his eyes landed on Stiles who was still being cuddled by Derek. He let out a little sigh of relief and then approached Ms. Blake to start asking questions and begin taking statements. Stiles wanted to go see his Papa, but he knew sometimes his dad had to put his job first. He had no doubt that if Derek wasn’t here, the sheriff would have scooped Stiles up and ordered someone else to take statements. 

While waiting for his dad to come and talk to the pack, Stiles was just starting to wonder if Derek would take them for ice cream later when the door swung open and Chris Argent entered. 

Of course Stiles should have seen that coming. He’d even seen Allison calling her dad! Derek whipped his head towards the door as soon as he entered, moving to place himself between the pack and Chris. Isaac grabbed Stiles from Derek instinctively until Stiles squirmed to be let down. The shock of seeing Chris and Derek in the same room together had aged him up quickly. Chris gave Derek a hard stare until Allison hurried over to him and began talking quietly. Stiles could only hear a little of what they were saying, but the snatches of conversation that he caught made it sound like Chris wasn’t going to cause any trouble- he just wanted to take Allison home. 

Derek relaxed a fraction of an inch, but he didn’t move from standing in front of the pack until the sheriff spoke to Chris and Allison and they started to leave. Just before they exited, Allison turned and gave a shy wave to the pack. To Derek’s chagrin, everyone but him waved back. Derek could literally smell Scott pining after Allison after she left, and he was torn between amusement and pity. Scott really had it bad. 

After he’d taken everyone else’s statements, the sheriff approached the pack. 

“Okay, guys. Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on here?” He asked in an undertone while reaching for Stiles. Stiles eagerly accepted the hug. Even though he wasn’t little anymore, hugs were still nice. 

“Yes, but not here. Meet us back at the loft, and I’ll tell you what I know.” John nodded solemnly, and Derek led the pack (minus Stiles, who wanted a couple minutes with his dad) to the office to sign them out, feeling a bit like a ringmaster leading a circus troop. The woman in charge of attendance seemed a little reluctant to let him sign Lydia, Jackson, and Scott out, but he gave her a charming smile and lied through his teeth about already having contacted their parents, and so she gave in. Lydia rode with Jackson, and Scott and Isaac rode in the Camaro with Derek since they’d ridden to school with Stiles that morning. They’d have to pick up Stiles’s Jeep later. 

“You know what it is, don’t you?” Scott asked Derek when they got in the car. “You’ve known since the wreck.” Derek tilted his head, considering. 

“I had an idea what we might be dealing with then, but it could just as easily have been a coincidence. It wasn’t until today that I fully realized what’s going on,” he said truthfully. 

“What are we dealing with?” Isaac asked curiously. 

“I’m going to wait until we’re back home to talk about it. I think it’d be best if I told everyone at once.” Isaac looked worried, but he didn’t press Derek further. The three rode in silence back to the loft.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in a while. No tangible excuse, just life. I'll try and remember to update again within the week. Like Stiles, I have pretty bad ADHD, but unlike Stiles, I'm not currently being medicated for it lol. Not that I'm fishing for comments, but I do get emails when I get comments... which reminds me to update!
> 
> Anyway, no little Stiles in this chapter for those of you who are only reading for that, but some more insights into the pack dynamic. If I remember rightly, I have some truly tooth-rotting Stiles moments coming up soon for you guys to look forward to! At this point, we are about a third of the way through what I already have written. I have a vague idea sketched out of where I want to take this, but if there's anything specific you want to see or an idea you have, now's a great time to pitch some!

Once inside, Derek went straight to the pantry, pulling out a variety of chips and crackers. Then he reached into the very back and pulled out several half-hidden boxes of Girl Scout cookies. 

“You still have Girl Scout cookies? I thought they stopped selling those in May!” Scott exclaimed, clearly awed. Derek nodded grimly. 

“I was saving them. These are a bribe,” he explained. Moments later, Jackson and Lydia walked into the door. Lydia narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the Girl Scout cookies. 

“Why are you bribing us?” She asked shrewdly. Derek sighed. 

“Because Peter’s home, and he’s going to be joining our discussion.” Lydia was momentarily speechless. But only for a moment. 

“Are you kidding me? After what he did to me, you expect me to sit down with him and have a normal conversation about pack stuff?”

“Just until we get this threat taken care of,” Derek said calmly. “I’m not in any way minimizing the trauma he put you through, but we need to work together if we’re going to deal with this threat. And you should keep in mind that Peter’s actions were largely a result of his own considerable trauma.” Lydia scoffed. 

“Sorry Derek, but I don’t give a flying fuck about Peter’s _trauma_. Just because shitty things happen to you, doesn’t give you an excuse to be a shitty person.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Derek agreed, “but being in a coma for six years and reliving the memory of your family burning to death the entire time could _explain_ it.” Lydia glared at Derek, who stared resolutely back at her. After a moment, she looked away guiltily. It was easy to forget that Derek and Peter shared many of the same scars. 

“Maybe it’d be different if he, you know, apologized for almost killing me and for making my life a living hell to bring himself back to life,” she muttered after a moment. Derek crossed the room to give her a hug, hearing the hurt in her voice. It wasn't something he would have felt comfortable doing just a few months ago, but he'd learned from Stiles that when one of the pack was using a tone as thoroughly injured as hers, he was morally obligated to hug them or be deemed an asshole. 

“Part of that is probably because I’ve told him not to have any contact with any of you,” he admitted. Lydia trembled. “No one’s asking you to be best friends with him, or even speak to him. But we need to deal with this threat, and Peter’s going to help us do that.” After a moment, Lydia nodded, her face still buried in Derek’s neck. 

“Okay,” she said softly. “If you say this is really necessary, then I trust you.” Derek smiled. 

“Thin Mints or Tagalongs?” 

“Did someone say Thin Mints?” Stiles shouted from the doorway, entering with his dad. He’d apparently aged up, though a pacifier was clipped to his shirtfront. Derek whipped a sleeve of cookies at him from across the room and Stiles caught it easily with his left hand.

“Your reflexes are getting better,” Derek said approvingly. It was true. A few months ago, he would’ve been lucky to catch a throw that hard with both hands, let alone his non-dominant one. The sheriff stared. 

“Who are you, and what have you done with my klutz of a son?” He demanded. 

“I told you we’d been training!” Stiles said proudly. “Wait’ll lacrosse season starts, I think I might make first line!” 

“Sorry it took us a little longer,” John apologized. “We had to make a stop.” 

“I peed myself when the birds attacked, and he had to change me,” Stiles said candidly. He’d long since lost any shame he had about any accidents he had while little. The pack laughed good-humoredly while the sheriff stared at them all a little. He’d seen them interact at his own house before, but here, at the loft, they all seemed so- comfortable. 

“I’m so sorry, Stiles, I can’t believe I didn’t realize,” Derek apologized. He’d held him for a good half hour before handing him off to the Sheriff. 

“No worries,” Stiles said easily. “You probably couldn’t smell the urine over all the fear and bird blood.” 

“On that cheerful note, let’s head to the living room,” Derek said wryly. 

“Is that my cue to come downstairs?” Peter said smoothly, descending the steps into the kitchen. 

“Peter making a dramatic entrance; what a surprise,” Isaac muttered. Lydia pointedly turned to go sit in the living room. 

“Sit down and shut up, Peter,” Derek said bluntly. Peter blinked, then grinned.

“Right away, _Alpha._ ” Derek ground his teeth as all of his Betas turned to stare at him, wounded looks on their face. 

“I am not your Alpha, Peter,” Derek growled, eyes blazing red. “If you don’t stop trying to rile everyone up, I’m going to make you.” Peter gave a very put-upon sigh and dropped dramatically into a chair in the living room. He pantomimed zipping his lips. 

“I feel like I missed something,” John muttered to Stiles. Stiles sighed. 

“I’ll explain later, Dad. It’s a wolf thing.” He and the rest of the Betas followed Derek into the living room, all of them having relaxed after Derek’s vehement denial of Peter. Derek settled into the armchair that was his. Others could sit in it, but any time Derek entered the room, it was automatically ceded to him without discussion. Stiles perched on the armrest while the rest of the Betas squeezed onto the couch, Lydia sprawled haughtily atop Jackson’s lap. Stiles thought she was probably the only person in the world who could make that pose look haughty. The Sheriff occupied the one remaining armchair they’d thoughtfully left for him, directly facing Derek. 

“The random animal attacks aren’t a coincidence. Animals often exhibit strange behavior when a new Alpha enters the territory,” Derek began. “After the deer rammed Lydia’s car Sunday, and Scott described the two werewolves who could hide their scent on Monday, I thought we were dealing with a rival pack or a rogue Alpha. But there’s only one explanation for an entire flock of birds dive-bombing your classroom.” Peter drew in a sharp breath. 

“The Alpha Pack?” He asked quietly. Derek nodded grimly. 

“What, an entire pack of Alphas?” Lydia asked curiously. Derek nodded. 

“I thought there could only be one Alpha in a pack. If they’re all Alphas, who leads them?” Stiles wondered.

“Yeah, and what happened to their packs?” Scott added. 

“They have a sort of leader, called Deucalion. In order to join the Alpha pack, he makes them kill their entire pack, one by one.” Everyone grew somber. 

“Holy shit,” Jackson muttered. 

“Why would they do that?” Isaac asked quietly. Derek hesitated. 

“In killing one’s Beta, an Alpha increases their power in much the same way they do by adding another member to the pack,” Peter explained calmly. Stiles gasped, grasping the nuance of that quicker than the others. 

“So they’re here to recruit you,” Stiles said quietly. “They want you to kill us and become one of them.”

“Yes.” Derek paused. “Obviously, that’s not going to happen. When I refuse them, however, they’ll try to kill us all.” 

“So this is what you’ve had us training for,” Jackson snorted. 

“A little bit,” Derek admitted. “I didn’t know they’d come here, but I knew it was a possibility. 

“The Hale line is an old one, and Deucalion would love nothing better than to have a Hale Alpha in his pack,” Peter added. 

“How do you know so much about them?” Scott asked. Derek sighed. 

“Years ago, Deucalion was an ally of the Hale pack- back when my mother was Alpha. He was very idealistic- he wanted to find peace between hunters and werewolves. Gerard and Chris Argent had killed one of his Betas in retaliation for purportedly biting one of their own. My mother organized a meeting to negotiate between the two of them. The hunters betrayed him, and Gerard blinded him. One of his Betas challenged him while he was recovering, and it was then that Deucalion discovered that he could become stronger by killing his Betas.” 

“What does all that have to do with the birds?” The Sheriff interjected. He’d patiently listened to Derek speak, but he was beginning to look a little overwhelmed. 

“Animals go crazy when there’s a new Alpha in the territory,” Scott realized aloud. “Like that deer that trampled me right before I got bit.” Derek nodded. 

“An entire group of Alphas just makes that worse. It could be that the animals will settle down and get used to the Alpha presence given time, but either way, our best bet is to get rid of the Alpha pack. Most of our problems will solve themselves at that point.”

“So how do we take out a pack of Alphas?” Stiles asked, vocalizing what everyone was thinking. Derek frowned. 

“We’re still working on that.” Stiles bit his lip, the suggestion of enlisting Chris Argent on the tip of his tongue. He knew better than to bring it up in front of the group though- he couldn’t really argue with Derek in front of them without undermining his authority. The sheriff rubbed a tired hand over his face. 

“So what should be my takeaway here?” He said finally. 

“Basically, wait for us to deal with it,” Derek said finally. “Your guns won’t do much good, and your deputies aren’t equipped to deal with an Alpha.”

“I can give him some mountain ash,” Stiles spoke up. “I usually keep some in my car, but I guess until this is taken care of I should probably keep it on me all the time?” Derek nodded approvingly. 

“That’s really good, Stiles. Lydia should keep some on her, too,” he added. 

“I can call Deaton and see about getting some more,” Scott offered.

“I think I’m actually going to go and pay him a visit,” Derek said. “There’s a few things I want to ask him about. That being said, I think we can adjourn this meeting. Until further notice, absolutely no one is allowed to be on their own. We stick to pairs, but larger groups are preferable.”

“Whose parents besides mine are gonna be cool with them living at the pack house for the foreseeable future?” Stiles asked wryly. Scott and Lydia raised her hand. After a moment, Isaac did as well, giving Derek a cheeky grin. 

“My parents don’t care about a lot of shit, but they do expect me home most nights,” Jackson said with clear frustration. 

“I’m guessing telling them the truth about werewolves isn’t an option, huh?” Scott asked. Jackson snorted. 

“Hell no. If it’s really that important, I’ll tell them I got a housesitting job for the next few weeks. Hopefully they’ll be too shocked by my initiative to question it.” Stiles clapped his hands. 

“All right! Pack slumber party!” He cheered. Derek rolled his eyes affectionately. 

“Yeah, sure. You guys can all leave in groups of two to reassure your parents and pack your things. I want everyone back here in two hours,” he ordered. “Isaac, go with Scott,” he added as an afterthought. 

“What about my car?” Stiles asked. 

“I’ll take you to school tomorrow. Scott, when you guys are finished, meet me at Deaton’s.” 

“Hey, Derek,” John called on his way out the door. “I don’t suppose you have any photographs of the Alphas?” Derek snorted and shook his head. 

“No, they like to keep themselves well hidden. But it’s possible that you could find some pictures of Deucalion before he was blinded. Peter and I have both met him before. We could give you a description of most of the pack members.” John nodded. 

“Come in for my sketch artist when you can. Maybe I can’t fight them, but I can have my deputies keep an eye out.” John pulled Stiles into a hug. 

“Listen to Derek, and stay safe. Love you, kiddo.” 

“Love you too, Dad. First sign of trouble, call us, yeah?” The Sheriff promised he would and left. The rest of the pack had cleared out, so only Peter, Derek, and Stiles remained. 

“I think we’re ignoring a pretty easy way to target them,” Stiles pointed out once everyone had left. 

“What’s that?” Derek asked. 

“The twins. We should put a tracker on one of their bikes to see where they go.” Derek tilted his head, considering. 

“That’s good, Stiles. That’s a really good idea. We’ll see what Deaton has to say, but I want you to text your dad and see about getting a tracker.” Stiles beamed at the praise.

“Sure thing!”


End file.
